COLUMBIA ACADEMY
News Release
MEDIA CONTACT: Emily Lansdell
931-490-4302 / 615-686-1768
[email protected]
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Columbia Academy Jr. High girls’ soccer scores ‘Goals 4 Gabbi’
Team scores record 71 goals to raise money for local child fighting cancer
COLUMBIA, TENN
(October 22, 2012) –
After hearing the news
that young Gabbi Cook
of Columbia was
fighting a rare form of
liver cancer called
Hepatoblastoma,
students at Columbia
Academy wanted to find
a way to assist her
family with expenses.
Eighth grader Anna
Marie DeJarnette
thought that her Jr. High
girls’ soccer team could
help the family with a
fundraiser the team calls “Goals 4 Gabbi.” At the conclusion of the season just a few
weeks ago, the team scored a record 71 goals and raised close to $10,000 to help the
Cook family with their expenses associated with Gabbi’s treatment. Contributors gave a
pre-season pledge amount of money per goal scored, explained Coach Zach Kittrell.
“I’ve been coaching for years and have never come close to seeing a team score that
many goals in one season - it’s unheard of, “Kittrell said. “They only allowed four goals
and went undefeated. Every girl on that team wanted to score a goal for Gabbi.”
Gabbi and her parents Matt and Charla Cook were scheduled to return to their mission
field work in Peru after the recent birth of their son. Their plans were postponed after
Gabbi’s diagnosis and the treatment that followed at Vanderbilt. With Gabbi’s current
prognosis, the family is leaving this week to go to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to
be considered for a possible liver transplant, said her father Matt Cook. The fundraiser
has enabled the family to afford the medical and travel expenses they will incur in
Pittsburgh, he said.
-more-
Columbia Academy girls’ soccer team raises close to $10,000 for local
child with cancer, p. 2
"Words can't express how much we appreciate what the girls did through the Goals 4
Gabbi project,” Cook said. “It's touching when people help, but it's extra touching when a
group of junior high girls put something together that is so significant and helpful. These
girls are awesome."
The team is now selling “Goals 4 Gabbi” pink T-shirts to continue in their fundraising
efforts for the family. For more information or to make a contribution, visit the Goals 4
Gabbi Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/GoalsforGabbi.
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Columbia Academy is a PreK-12th grade college preparatory school founded in 1979 to provide
high quality academics from a Christian perspective. With an enrollment of more than 750
students, CA is located on a beautiful 67-acre campus in Columbia, Tenn., formerly home to the
Columbia Military Academy. CA also maintains a satellite campus in Spring Hill, Tenn.
Columbia Academy is accredited by AdvancEd (SACS) and is a member of the National
Christian School Association.
SCHOOL INFORMATION
Columbia Campus – 1101 West 7th Street, Columbia, TN 38401, (931) 388-5363
Spring Hill Campus - 756 Beechcroft Road, Spring Hill, TN 37174, (931) 486-1002
Website: cabulldogs.org / Facebook – COLUMBIA ACADEMY - TN